“You and your wife are good folks, Finch. You volunteer at the orphanage every week. Why not take the kid in for real? You’re a company exec, right? It’s not like you can’t afford to feed one more mouth.”
“Exactly. You only have one kid—raising two’s just as easy. He came all this way to find you. That’s fate, man. Don’t turn him away. Poor kid.”
Cecily was clearly moved.
But she wouldn’t say yes unless I gave the nod.
I took the phone from her and dialed 911.
“Tyrell, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. But the adoption’s already been processed. If I take you back now, that’s illegal. You don’t want me getting falsely accused of kidnapping, right?
“The cops will investigate. If your adoptive parents really did something wrong, the adoption won’t hold. You’ll be back in the orphanage, safe. Trust me.”
He looked at me with pure hatred, but I didn’t flinch.
I reported everything to the cops.
The neighbors, seeing the issue was handled, went back to their homes.
Cecily didn’t have memories of our past life, so I didn’t want her getting soft on Tyrell.
I decided to take him to the station myself.
Before I left, I saw my son hiding in the room, scared.
I told Cecily to stay and comfort him.